1989 HEADLINE: Ken Griffey Jr. Hits First Big League Home Run!!!

During the collecting days of my youth, I cannot recall a rookie that received more attention from the hobby than Ken Griffey Jr. And it all started before he suited up for one game. Now I saw my share of rookie phenoms – Dwight Gooden, Roger Clemens, Jerome Walton… But none of these guys carried the hobby prior to making their major league debuts.

But Griffey did!!!

So when Junior stepped to the plate in just the 7th game of his big league career and belted a home run to deep left field, collectors around the world sighed. At home, and in front of close to 34,000 fans, Griffey launched home run #1 off of White Sox pitcher Eric King. And as they say, the rest was history…

Today, Griffey sits in 5th place on the all-time home run list with 630. Exactly 30 homers behind one of his baseball idols, Willie Mays.